A/N: Hey guys, sorry this took so long. This chapter took me frickin
forever to write, since I had writers block for a solid 2 ½ weeks. Gah.
Anyway, enjoy. Don't be afraid to review, by the way. I quite enjoy
getting feedback (
Chapter 21: I Can't Believe A Year Went By So Fast
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Angel, happy birthday to you," Will sang softly to Angel, watching him turn over and wake up from a deep sleep.
"Hey, baby," Angel greeted, rubbing his eyes and sitting up in bed.
"You would not believe what I have planned for you," Will informed Angel, petting him affectionately on the top of his head.
"And what would that be, darling?" Angel asked, beginning to wake up a little more.
"You will have to wait and see. But, for now, I made you breakfast," he said, changing the subject.
"Darling, I love you, but you can't cook. How did you manage to make breakfast?"
"Okay, fine. I went to Dunkin Doughnuts and picked some stuff up. But, technically I did make it. I mean, I put the cream cheese on the bagel, and the sugar in the coffee!" he said, defending himself.
Giggling, Angel sat up and hugged Will tightly, "It's okay. It'll taste great no matter what."
Picking Angel up out of bed, and carrying him into the kitchen, Will kissed him, and, looking into his eyes passionately, he said, "Happy anniversary. We met exactly one year ago today, and it's been the best year of my life, Ang."
"I know," he said, holding onto Will and looking back at him, "I love you so much."
"Love you too, beautiful."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was June 22nd, 1994. Exactly one year ago, Will and Angel had met at Model Boy, on Angel's eighteenth birthday. Since then, the relationship had been nothing but wonderful. The only problem Angel had was Queenie. He loved Queenie like he loved his own mother, but her criticism towards Will had been bugging him. Queenie had told him, on multiple occasions, that she didn't trust Will as far as she could throw him, which was, apparently, not very far. Every time Angel came by the club with Will, Queenie barely even acknowledged his presence. It was extremely out of character for her, being a loud, friendly, and loving person. Angel had never even imagined she could be so cold. Her animosity was affecting his relationship with Will, as well. He was afraid that Queenie hated him for taking her "son" away, and that he was unwanted in their "family." Angel tried to reassure him that this wasn't the case, but he had always been a bad liar. He loved Queenie and Will dearly, and it was difficult for him to have the two people who he loved most not get along.
Today, however, was Angel's birthday, and last night he had informed Queenie that he was to be nice to Will today, for both of their sakes. They were celebrating a one year anniversary and Angel's real nineteenth birthday. Queenie had found out, recently, that Angel had lied about his age to get into the club. She hadn't been too pleased at first, but, as she always told him, "You do what you have to do to survive, darling."
Every time he and Angel walked into the club on the off-hours, Will was amazed at how still and beautiful it was. He never understood the people who hung out at the night clubs all day, but now he did. The little pieces of confetti and glitter littered the scratched, worn dance floor as Enrico, the bar tender, endlessly attempted to clean them up. There was a warm, bohemian feel to the deserted club, and Will loved the feel of it all. Holding tightly onto Angel's hand, the happy couple walked slowly to the doors that led backstage to go meet Queenie.
The dark and dreary blue curtains were drawn, closing the stage off. From behind the curtains, Queenie appeared with a megawatt smile on her face.
"ANG!" she squealed, clasping her hands together and giggling, "I was wondering when you'd get here! Boy, have I got a surprise for you!" She did a little jump, and then twirled around, rushing back behind the curtains.
Moments later, the deep blue sea of velvet parted, revealing a huge glittering disco ball, and an ensemble of drag queens, all dressed to impress, singing backup to Queenie.
Her strong, sensual voice echoed through the club as she sang People by Barbara Streisand, the song Angel had sung the night he found out about Fred's HIV. Tears flowed freely down Angel's face as he listened to the beautiful music, closing his eyes as Will's arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Frequently throughout the song, Angel would reach up to wipe his tears before his face turned into a river of running makeup.
The last chords of the song were sung quietly by the backup singers as Queenie smiled sweetly, and stepped off the stage. Breaking away from Will's embrace momentarily, Angel embraced her and received a kiss on the cheek.
"Happy birthday honey," Queenie told him, "I am loving your outfit, by the way. Did Tiff help you pick it out?"
"Nope, I did this one all by myself. Your little baby is growing up!" Angel exclaimed proudly, looking at his rainbow-striped tube dress and clunky platform heels. Fluffing his wig and wiping the tears from his eyes one more time, Angel went back to holding Will's hand.
"Hi Queenie," Will greeted her, hoping that today he'd manage to squeeze a smile out of the vivacious drag queen.
"Oh, hi William," she said. Angel constantly introduced him as "Will" not "William," but Queenie refused to use his nickname. "Happy anniversary," she said with an almost bitter tone to her voice.
"Thank you!" Angel and Will said in unison, giggling and gazing into each other's eyes.
"Why, hello there, young lovers!" Fred called from the steps leading off the stage. He scooped Queenie up into his arms, kissing her neck. "Happy anniversary to both of you," he paused, released Queenie, and then continued, "Hey, Angel, why don't you and me go out for a birthday lunch? Where's that place you keep talking about, Spring Gardens is it?"
"Yeah, that's the place. Okay, let's go!" Angel exclaimed, sounding like a hyper little kid.
Winking at Will and Queenie on the way out, Fred guided Angel out of the club.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me," Will said to Queenie once Angel and Fred were out of sight. Will had planned this entire thing, calling up Fred each day during the prior week to make arrangements to carry out his plan. Will was determined to talk to Queenie alone, and he knew that the only way he'd be able to do that would be to get Angel out of the building with Fred. Fred had been more than willing to help with the plan, once Will had told him what, exactly would be going on. Angel was completely clueless, and Queenie only knew that Will wanted to speak with her.
"Oh, it's no problem," Queenie said, sounding slightly distracted and annoyed as she spoke with Will, looking through him, rather than at him.
"I had a question to ask you," Will began.
"Ask away."
"Okay, well I know that you are like a mother to Angel. I mean, he goes on forever about how much he loves you and Fred. It's obvious that you both mean the world to him, so I figured that since you are his family, you know, I should. sorry, I'm rambling. I'll cut to the chase. Queenie, Angel and I have been together for a year now, and it's been the best year of my life. Angel is the most wonderful person I've ever met, and I love him more than I love anyone else on earth. I want to devote my life to him. I want to marry him, but I need your permission," he spit out, hands sweating and shaking with nerves.
The dazzling smile on her face dimmed and began to fade out. "What do you mean 'marry him?' You can't, I mean, not legally," she explained, speaking to him as if he were five years old.
"Oh, I know that. But, I mean, we could have a sort of 'mock wedding' as a symbol for our devotion to each other. It can be like a real marriage, minus the legal stuff," he explained, as Queenie's smile began to fade even further until it was barely noticeable.
"You love him that much?" she asked with surprise.
Confused by her tone of voice, Will continued slowly, "Of course I do. I told you, Angel is everything to me. He's the love of my life. Why do you sound so shocked?"
"I have to tell you flat out," she explained, staring intensely into the ocean-blue eyes, "I don't trust you. I've had a funny feeling about you and Angel from the beginning. I mean, it could just be because you don't look 'gay' if you get what I'm saying. Honestly, if you had walked into this club, I probably would have guided you out, assuming you had come to the wrong place."
Will continued to stare, perplexed, back at her.
Continuing, "But that's not it. I don't care that you don't look 'gay.' I mean, who's to say what's 'gay' and what's not? There is something about the two of you that just makes me nervous. Like. I don't know," she stumbled over her words.
"If you think I won't be faithful, you're mistaken," Will insisted, his voice rising slightly.
"Oh no, it's not that. From the way you were speaking just now, any reservations I had about your loyalty are gone. It's just. Angel's like my son, honey, you know? God, this is so hard," she paused and laughed nervously, "I can't share him with anyone."
"So you're telling me that I don't have your permission?" Will asked, angrily.
"It's not even that my permission will stop you both from doing what you're gonna do. It's obvious you love him, but, you need to understand, this is hard for me. I mean, for me and Fred. Angel really is the child we never had. He's my son in every way, and it's hard for me to let my baby go. He came to me when he had nobody, and we've been a constant support system for each other. Having him not living here anymore is hard enough, and now knowing that he is truly sharing his heart with someone else is so hard. I mean, I guess you can have my permission, but that doesn't mean that I agree with what you want to do," she explained. Will was surprised at her blatant honesty. Angel had always said that Queenie was an awful liar.
"I wish. I wish that I could change your mind," he mumbled quietly, more to himself than to her.
"All you can do is love him. That boy's got a big heart with a lot of extra love (author's note: YAY ZANNA DON'T!) to go around. You just treat him right, and it'll be alright," she reassured, smiling a brilliant grin again, and holding his hand. This was the first sign of affection and friendship she'd shown towards him since they'd met a year ago.
"Thank you. Really, this means a lot to me," he told her sincerely.
"I know it does. I wouldn't hand my son over to anybody, honey, believe me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fred and Angel waltzed happily back into the club, welcomed by Queenie and Will, who were sitting and having a conversation. Both men were astonished, as they knew that their significant others didn't get along too well.
"Glad to see you two chatting!" Angel exclaimed, perching himself on top of Will's knee.
"Well, we're glad you're back," Will replied, smiling at Queenie and holding his lover.
"Babe, we need to clean up backstage before Trish and everyone comes tonight. Come with me," Queenie insisted as she dragged Fred behind the heavy blue curtains with her.
"So." Will began, still holding onto Angel.
"I'm so happy for you and Queenie! What did you guys talk about?" Angel inquired, bursting with excitement.
"Um, just some. stuff. you know. She doesn't like me very much, though," he said, immediately regretting it right after he said it.
Watching the excitement drain from his eyes, Will saw confusion and anger engulf the amber-hazel orbs as Angel asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well, it's not that she doesn't like me, I mean. she basically said she didn't trust me, and stuff. It's not really a big deal, I mean, we worked most of it out. You saw us, we were talking; having a civilized conversation. Hell, I was even enjoying her company," he said, trying to steer Angel away from the topic of conversation.
"Why wouldn't she trust you? Will, honey, that's not right. I need to discuss this with her," he insisted, "What's wrong with her?"
"No, no, Ang, it's fine, really. I told you, we worked everything out, we're cool now!" Will exclaimed, pleading with him not to talk to Queenie about it. Will knew full-well that he probably shouldn't have even said anything to Angel, after having just gotten on Queenie's good side. If Angel went to go talk to her, then Queenie would probably go straight back to not trusting him and treating him like some invisible shadow.
"I'm going. You wait here, and I'll be back later," Angel informed him, kissing him on the lips to seal the decision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As usual, Queenie and Fred were mid-grope when Angel walked in on them.
"Nothing I haven't seen before, guys," Angel said, laughing as Queenie fumbled to put Fred's shirt back on.
"Can we help you with anything darling?" Queenie asked, smiling brilliantly at him as she always did.
"Yes, actually. Queenie, hon, I need to have a word with you," Angel said, firmly.
"Okay. Freddie, baby, excuse us for a minute," Queenie got up and kissed him on the cheek. Fred exited the room, closing the door behind him.
"Ang, what's the deal?"
"I just talked to Will," he stated, assuming that she would know exactly what he was referring to.
"And." she continued, obviously confused.
"He told me what you said about him. How you don't trust him, and everything. Why would you say that about him?" Angel demanded, his voice getting louder.
"Calm down. You know that I've felt weird about him from the beginning. There's something about him that I just don't like, and I don't trust it," she explained, nonchalantly.
"Listen, if you think he's not faithful, then -,"
"Funny you should say that, because he said exactly the same thing to me. That I would be crazy if I thought he wouldn't be faithful to you. I don't doubt his loyalty. From the way he talked about you, I could tell he'd be willing to sacrifice anything for you. I know you mean the world to him, but I just don't trust him. He's sketchy," she concluded. Sweeping a stray strand of her wig away from her deep almond eyes, she continued, "Here's the thing. I love you Angel. You and Fred are my world; you're all I've got, and I don't want to lose you."
"You won't lose me, why would you think that?"
"You're like my son, you know that. If I had a kid, I'd imagine that he or she would be a lot like you, and I love that. You've got a big heart, with a lot of love to spread around. I'm just being selfish. I don't want to share you with anybody else. I don't like knowing that I'm not the only love in your heart now, and that some yuppie boy is taking my place."
Angel had to giggle when she said "yuppie boy." "Queenie, baby, nobody will ever take your place. I love Will a lot, but you're like my mother. I'll never love anybody the way I love you. You just need to trust me on this. And there's nothing 'sketchy' about Will. He's perfectly legit, I promise you that," he insisted.
"I wish." she sighed, "I wish I could believe you. But even after I had worked everything out with him, I still got a funny feeling about him. Like something bad is gonna happen with you two, or something. Something really bad." She twirled her hair, nervously.
"You're just being over protective. You need to let me go. I'm nineteen years old, and I've been through a lot more trauma than most people twice my age. I deserve some good, and Will's gonna give me that. Let me go," he said, sweetly, taking hold of her hand.
"I love you. I'll always be here for you, no matter what you do, and no matter what happens with you and Will, or with anybody. But I don't agree with what you're choosing," she said, letting go of his hand, casting her eyes down to the floor and pulling her lace skirt down.
"I'm not asking for your approval, just your support."
"You have it," she mumbled and sighed, her face completely void of a smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angel walked out of the backstage hallway feeling a weight of resentment in his chest. He found himself questioning a future with Will. This was very uncharacteristic of Queenie. Usually, she was nothing but supportive and approving of what he did, but when it came to Will, everything changed. He couldn't understand her animosity towards him, and he didn't want to understand it. Like it or not, he was nineteen years old, a legal adult, and Queenie was no longer responsible for his decisions. "She'll just have to deal with it," he said quietly to himself, as he approached Will.
Out of the corner of his eye, Will saw Angel coming towards him, and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small green box. Angel leaned down to kiss him, but instead, Will got up out of his seat and lowered himself to the floor on one knee.
Nervous and surprised, Angel looked down at him as he took a hold of his lover's hand, gazing longingly into his eyes.
"Angel Schunard, you are the love of my life," Will began, "I want nothing more than to devote my entire life to being with you and making you happy. I know it won't be legal or anything, but, Angel, will you marry me?"
Angel tasted his own salty tears before he even realized he was crying. Kneeling in a skirt was not easy to do, but Angel managed to lower himself to the floor and wrap his arms around Will in a brilliantly happy embrace. "Yes."
Chapter 21: I Can't Believe A Year Went By So Fast
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Angel, happy birthday to you," Will sang softly to Angel, watching him turn over and wake up from a deep sleep.
"Hey, baby," Angel greeted, rubbing his eyes and sitting up in bed.
"You would not believe what I have planned for you," Will informed Angel, petting him affectionately on the top of his head.
"And what would that be, darling?" Angel asked, beginning to wake up a little more.
"You will have to wait and see. But, for now, I made you breakfast," he said, changing the subject.
"Darling, I love you, but you can't cook. How did you manage to make breakfast?"
"Okay, fine. I went to Dunkin Doughnuts and picked some stuff up. But, technically I did make it. I mean, I put the cream cheese on the bagel, and the sugar in the coffee!" he said, defending himself.
Giggling, Angel sat up and hugged Will tightly, "It's okay. It'll taste great no matter what."
Picking Angel up out of bed, and carrying him into the kitchen, Will kissed him, and, looking into his eyes passionately, he said, "Happy anniversary. We met exactly one year ago today, and it's been the best year of my life, Ang."
"I know," he said, holding onto Will and looking back at him, "I love you so much."
"Love you too, beautiful."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was June 22nd, 1994. Exactly one year ago, Will and Angel had met at Model Boy, on Angel's eighteenth birthday. Since then, the relationship had been nothing but wonderful. The only problem Angel had was Queenie. He loved Queenie like he loved his own mother, but her criticism towards Will had been bugging him. Queenie had told him, on multiple occasions, that she didn't trust Will as far as she could throw him, which was, apparently, not very far. Every time Angel came by the club with Will, Queenie barely even acknowledged his presence. It was extremely out of character for her, being a loud, friendly, and loving person. Angel had never even imagined she could be so cold. Her animosity was affecting his relationship with Will, as well. He was afraid that Queenie hated him for taking her "son" away, and that he was unwanted in their "family." Angel tried to reassure him that this wasn't the case, but he had always been a bad liar. He loved Queenie and Will dearly, and it was difficult for him to have the two people who he loved most not get along.
Today, however, was Angel's birthday, and last night he had informed Queenie that he was to be nice to Will today, for both of their sakes. They were celebrating a one year anniversary and Angel's real nineteenth birthday. Queenie had found out, recently, that Angel had lied about his age to get into the club. She hadn't been too pleased at first, but, as she always told him, "You do what you have to do to survive, darling."
Every time he and Angel walked into the club on the off-hours, Will was amazed at how still and beautiful it was. He never understood the people who hung out at the night clubs all day, but now he did. The little pieces of confetti and glitter littered the scratched, worn dance floor as Enrico, the bar tender, endlessly attempted to clean them up. There was a warm, bohemian feel to the deserted club, and Will loved the feel of it all. Holding tightly onto Angel's hand, the happy couple walked slowly to the doors that led backstage to go meet Queenie.
The dark and dreary blue curtains were drawn, closing the stage off. From behind the curtains, Queenie appeared with a megawatt smile on her face.
"ANG!" she squealed, clasping her hands together and giggling, "I was wondering when you'd get here! Boy, have I got a surprise for you!" She did a little jump, and then twirled around, rushing back behind the curtains.
Moments later, the deep blue sea of velvet parted, revealing a huge glittering disco ball, and an ensemble of drag queens, all dressed to impress, singing backup to Queenie.
Her strong, sensual voice echoed through the club as she sang People by Barbara Streisand, the song Angel had sung the night he found out about Fred's HIV. Tears flowed freely down Angel's face as he listened to the beautiful music, closing his eyes as Will's arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Frequently throughout the song, Angel would reach up to wipe his tears before his face turned into a river of running makeup.
The last chords of the song were sung quietly by the backup singers as Queenie smiled sweetly, and stepped off the stage. Breaking away from Will's embrace momentarily, Angel embraced her and received a kiss on the cheek.
"Happy birthday honey," Queenie told him, "I am loving your outfit, by the way. Did Tiff help you pick it out?"
"Nope, I did this one all by myself. Your little baby is growing up!" Angel exclaimed proudly, looking at his rainbow-striped tube dress and clunky platform heels. Fluffing his wig and wiping the tears from his eyes one more time, Angel went back to holding Will's hand.
"Hi Queenie," Will greeted her, hoping that today he'd manage to squeeze a smile out of the vivacious drag queen.
"Oh, hi William," she said. Angel constantly introduced him as "Will" not "William," but Queenie refused to use his nickname. "Happy anniversary," she said with an almost bitter tone to her voice.
"Thank you!" Angel and Will said in unison, giggling and gazing into each other's eyes.
"Why, hello there, young lovers!" Fred called from the steps leading off the stage. He scooped Queenie up into his arms, kissing her neck. "Happy anniversary to both of you," he paused, released Queenie, and then continued, "Hey, Angel, why don't you and me go out for a birthday lunch? Where's that place you keep talking about, Spring Gardens is it?"
"Yeah, that's the place. Okay, let's go!" Angel exclaimed, sounding like a hyper little kid.
Winking at Will and Queenie on the way out, Fred guided Angel out of the club.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me," Will said to Queenie once Angel and Fred were out of sight. Will had planned this entire thing, calling up Fred each day during the prior week to make arrangements to carry out his plan. Will was determined to talk to Queenie alone, and he knew that the only way he'd be able to do that would be to get Angel out of the building with Fred. Fred had been more than willing to help with the plan, once Will had told him what, exactly would be going on. Angel was completely clueless, and Queenie only knew that Will wanted to speak with her.
"Oh, it's no problem," Queenie said, sounding slightly distracted and annoyed as she spoke with Will, looking through him, rather than at him.
"I had a question to ask you," Will began.
"Ask away."
"Okay, well I know that you are like a mother to Angel. I mean, he goes on forever about how much he loves you and Fred. It's obvious that you both mean the world to him, so I figured that since you are his family, you know, I should. sorry, I'm rambling. I'll cut to the chase. Queenie, Angel and I have been together for a year now, and it's been the best year of my life. Angel is the most wonderful person I've ever met, and I love him more than I love anyone else on earth. I want to devote my life to him. I want to marry him, but I need your permission," he spit out, hands sweating and shaking with nerves.
The dazzling smile on her face dimmed and began to fade out. "What do you mean 'marry him?' You can't, I mean, not legally," she explained, speaking to him as if he were five years old.
"Oh, I know that. But, I mean, we could have a sort of 'mock wedding' as a symbol for our devotion to each other. It can be like a real marriage, minus the legal stuff," he explained, as Queenie's smile began to fade even further until it was barely noticeable.
"You love him that much?" she asked with surprise.
Confused by her tone of voice, Will continued slowly, "Of course I do. I told you, Angel is everything to me. He's the love of my life. Why do you sound so shocked?"
"I have to tell you flat out," she explained, staring intensely into the ocean-blue eyes, "I don't trust you. I've had a funny feeling about you and Angel from the beginning. I mean, it could just be because you don't look 'gay' if you get what I'm saying. Honestly, if you had walked into this club, I probably would have guided you out, assuming you had come to the wrong place."
Will continued to stare, perplexed, back at her.
Continuing, "But that's not it. I don't care that you don't look 'gay.' I mean, who's to say what's 'gay' and what's not? There is something about the two of you that just makes me nervous. Like. I don't know," she stumbled over her words.
"If you think I won't be faithful, you're mistaken," Will insisted, his voice rising slightly.
"Oh no, it's not that. From the way you were speaking just now, any reservations I had about your loyalty are gone. It's just. Angel's like my son, honey, you know? God, this is so hard," she paused and laughed nervously, "I can't share him with anyone."
"So you're telling me that I don't have your permission?" Will asked, angrily.
"It's not even that my permission will stop you both from doing what you're gonna do. It's obvious you love him, but, you need to understand, this is hard for me. I mean, for me and Fred. Angel really is the child we never had. He's my son in every way, and it's hard for me to let my baby go. He came to me when he had nobody, and we've been a constant support system for each other. Having him not living here anymore is hard enough, and now knowing that he is truly sharing his heart with someone else is so hard. I mean, I guess you can have my permission, but that doesn't mean that I agree with what you want to do," she explained. Will was surprised at her blatant honesty. Angel had always said that Queenie was an awful liar.
"I wish. I wish that I could change your mind," he mumbled quietly, more to himself than to her.
"All you can do is love him. That boy's got a big heart with a lot of extra love (author's note: YAY ZANNA DON'T!) to go around. You just treat him right, and it'll be alright," she reassured, smiling a brilliant grin again, and holding his hand. This was the first sign of affection and friendship she'd shown towards him since they'd met a year ago.
"Thank you. Really, this means a lot to me," he told her sincerely.
"I know it does. I wouldn't hand my son over to anybody, honey, believe me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fred and Angel waltzed happily back into the club, welcomed by Queenie and Will, who were sitting and having a conversation. Both men were astonished, as they knew that their significant others didn't get along too well.
"Glad to see you two chatting!" Angel exclaimed, perching himself on top of Will's knee.
"Well, we're glad you're back," Will replied, smiling at Queenie and holding his lover.
"Babe, we need to clean up backstage before Trish and everyone comes tonight. Come with me," Queenie insisted as she dragged Fred behind the heavy blue curtains with her.
"So." Will began, still holding onto Angel.
"I'm so happy for you and Queenie! What did you guys talk about?" Angel inquired, bursting with excitement.
"Um, just some. stuff. you know. She doesn't like me very much, though," he said, immediately regretting it right after he said it.
Watching the excitement drain from his eyes, Will saw confusion and anger engulf the amber-hazel orbs as Angel asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well, it's not that she doesn't like me, I mean. she basically said she didn't trust me, and stuff. It's not really a big deal, I mean, we worked most of it out. You saw us, we were talking; having a civilized conversation. Hell, I was even enjoying her company," he said, trying to steer Angel away from the topic of conversation.
"Why wouldn't she trust you? Will, honey, that's not right. I need to discuss this with her," he insisted, "What's wrong with her?"
"No, no, Ang, it's fine, really. I told you, we worked everything out, we're cool now!" Will exclaimed, pleading with him not to talk to Queenie about it. Will knew full-well that he probably shouldn't have even said anything to Angel, after having just gotten on Queenie's good side. If Angel went to go talk to her, then Queenie would probably go straight back to not trusting him and treating him like some invisible shadow.
"I'm going. You wait here, and I'll be back later," Angel informed him, kissing him on the lips to seal the decision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As usual, Queenie and Fred were mid-grope when Angel walked in on them.
"Nothing I haven't seen before, guys," Angel said, laughing as Queenie fumbled to put Fred's shirt back on.
"Can we help you with anything darling?" Queenie asked, smiling brilliantly at him as she always did.
"Yes, actually. Queenie, hon, I need to have a word with you," Angel said, firmly.
"Okay. Freddie, baby, excuse us for a minute," Queenie got up and kissed him on the cheek. Fred exited the room, closing the door behind him.
"Ang, what's the deal?"
"I just talked to Will," he stated, assuming that she would know exactly what he was referring to.
"And." she continued, obviously confused.
"He told me what you said about him. How you don't trust him, and everything. Why would you say that about him?" Angel demanded, his voice getting louder.
"Calm down. You know that I've felt weird about him from the beginning. There's something about him that I just don't like, and I don't trust it," she explained, nonchalantly.
"Listen, if you think he's not faithful, then -,"
"Funny you should say that, because he said exactly the same thing to me. That I would be crazy if I thought he wouldn't be faithful to you. I don't doubt his loyalty. From the way he talked about you, I could tell he'd be willing to sacrifice anything for you. I know you mean the world to him, but I just don't trust him. He's sketchy," she concluded. Sweeping a stray strand of her wig away from her deep almond eyes, she continued, "Here's the thing. I love you Angel. You and Fred are my world; you're all I've got, and I don't want to lose you."
"You won't lose me, why would you think that?"
"You're like my son, you know that. If I had a kid, I'd imagine that he or she would be a lot like you, and I love that. You've got a big heart, with a lot of love to spread around. I'm just being selfish. I don't want to share you with anybody else. I don't like knowing that I'm not the only love in your heart now, and that some yuppie boy is taking my place."
Angel had to giggle when she said "yuppie boy." "Queenie, baby, nobody will ever take your place. I love Will a lot, but you're like my mother. I'll never love anybody the way I love you. You just need to trust me on this. And there's nothing 'sketchy' about Will. He's perfectly legit, I promise you that," he insisted.
"I wish." she sighed, "I wish I could believe you. But even after I had worked everything out with him, I still got a funny feeling about him. Like something bad is gonna happen with you two, or something. Something really bad." She twirled her hair, nervously.
"You're just being over protective. You need to let me go. I'm nineteen years old, and I've been through a lot more trauma than most people twice my age. I deserve some good, and Will's gonna give me that. Let me go," he said, sweetly, taking hold of her hand.
"I love you. I'll always be here for you, no matter what you do, and no matter what happens with you and Will, or with anybody. But I don't agree with what you're choosing," she said, letting go of his hand, casting her eyes down to the floor and pulling her lace skirt down.
"I'm not asking for your approval, just your support."
"You have it," she mumbled and sighed, her face completely void of a smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angel walked out of the backstage hallway feeling a weight of resentment in his chest. He found himself questioning a future with Will. This was very uncharacteristic of Queenie. Usually, she was nothing but supportive and approving of what he did, but when it came to Will, everything changed. He couldn't understand her animosity towards him, and he didn't want to understand it. Like it or not, he was nineteen years old, a legal adult, and Queenie was no longer responsible for his decisions. "She'll just have to deal with it," he said quietly to himself, as he approached Will.
Out of the corner of his eye, Will saw Angel coming towards him, and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small green box. Angel leaned down to kiss him, but instead, Will got up out of his seat and lowered himself to the floor on one knee.
Nervous and surprised, Angel looked down at him as he took a hold of his lover's hand, gazing longingly into his eyes.
"Angel Schunard, you are the love of my life," Will began, "I want nothing more than to devote my entire life to being with you and making you happy. I know it won't be legal or anything, but, Angel, will you marry me?"
Angel tasted his own salty tears before he even realized he was crying. Kneeling in a skirt was not easy to do, but Angel managed to lower himself to the floor and wrap his arms around Will in a brilliantly happy embrace. "Yes."